Broadband network access is nearing ubiquity in consumer households, enabling many new products, services, and features. For example, entertainment platforms (including computers, video game consoles, portable video game devices, cell phones, personal digital assistants (“PDAs”) and the like) now provide networking capabilities, enabling, among other products and services, online game play, software updates, rankings, community features, and the like. In addition, broadband network access enables a new sales mechanism for entertainment software and data, such as, video games, demonstration versions of video games, movie and video game trailers, movies, music, audio, and the like—instead of purchasing games in stores or placing an order for delivery, a customer may download purchased software across a broadband network for use on an entertainment platform.
However, modern video games, such as many of those designed for distribution by CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, Blu-ray Disc, or the like, are typically large in size, necessitating long download times. It is desirable to decrease the time between when a user requests a network-delivered game and when that game is available for play.